Warlight by Michael Ondaatje Essay Guide (HSC Module B)

1Introduction

Today, we’ll be looking at Michael Ondaatje’s novel Warlight (2018) in the updated HSC Syllabus. Below is an unpacking of the new syllabus description for HSC Module B.

From NESA: “Students develop detailed analytical and critical knowledge of a substantial literary text. Through increasingly informed personal responses to the text in its entirety, students understand and appreciate the text’s distinctive qualities, notions of meaning, and significance. Students study ONE prescribed text, focusing on an analysis of the text’s construction, content and language. This enables students to develop informed personal perspectives of the text as well as an understanding of its cultural contribution, basing their judgements on evidence drawn from their critical reading. They evaluate the context of the text’s composition and reception, investigate and evaluate the perspectives of others, and explore the ideas in the text, further strengthening their personal perspectives.”

Important things to note:

1. increasingly informed and personal responses to the text in its entirety (need to get quotes from beginning, middle and end, and develop PERSONAL response so you can use first person e.g. the novel has formed my understanding of the post war disillusionment that characterised 1950s London”. Module B is the only module where you can use first person in your response. While the majority of teachers support that, some schools still insist you using third person, so just refer to yourself as “the audience” if your teacher discourages 1st person) (think about how all parts of the text work together to form a cohesive text )
2. significance (refers to the enduring value of the text)
3. text’s composition and reception (“reception” means you need to talk about how the novel affects audiences of today)

Let’s explore the main ideas of Warlight:

2The impact and aftermath of war

Ondaatje reflects the continual aftermath of war. Firstly, Nathaniel’s parents are separated from their children, leading to differing responses from Nathaniel and Rachel. While Rachel becomes resentful due to this separation and rejects his mother’s later attempts to reconcile, Nathaniel initially feels displaced yet seeks enjoyment in forging his own way in society. However, he too is emotionally damaged, leading to his preference of isolating himself from others due to the forced deception he needs to adopt. Similarly, the war forces his mother to deceive others, leading to an isolated life. The war also perpetuates a cycle of vengeance that ultimately kills her mother.

3The elusiveness of memory and reconstructing the past

Nathaniel’s main goal is to reconstruct historical truths. He recognises from an early age the need to preserve the past through tangible records eg his obsessive updating of his maps. In Part One, his childhood perspective is unable to uncover the entire truth. In his adulthood, his occupation serves as an opportunity to understand his mother’s past, yet a lot of it is still a subjective speculation of what she may have experienced rather than set in concrete evidence due to incomplete fragments of the past.

4Coping with displacement with relationships and greater independence in the world

Nathaniel feels initially displaced due to familial separation but seeks solace in his interactions with The Moth, Olive Lawrence and especially Darter’s illegal enterprise. He enjoys the independence he has in this world. Additionally, Rose seeks emotional connection with Marsh as she too feels displaced in a world of upheaval from the war.

5Moral ambiguities of war

Ondaatje presents Nathaniel’s mother’s involvement in the war as requiring sacrifice for her country. However, he also presents the casualties in war on the opposing side to highlight the moral ambiguity of her espionage. Similarly, Nathaniel is a victim of the war and uses his job in the archives to reconstruct his mother’s past. However, this job fundamentally requires him to erase history to embellish the Allied forces’ wartime activities, forming a moral ambiguity. Additionally, his involvement with Darter’s illegal activities reflects the criminalities that people in post war England resorted to for survival.

6Final thoughts

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